4 Charts on the Reality of Expenses in U.S. and UK Corporate Travel

Corporate travel managers are doing a good job communicating travel policy to employees, but those same employees still aren’t using online solutions to track expenses while traveling.

— Andrew Sheivachman

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Research from corporate travel booking and expense technology provider KDS finds that business travelers have yet to adopt mobile or online solutions to keep track of their spending on the road.

KDS polled 1,212 business professionals in the U.S. and UK on their travel and expense habits, finding that most don’t use an expense management tool. A surprisingly large 41 percent of those polled said they still use a spreadsheet to submit expenses, and 73 percent would prefer use one mobile tool for all their travel bookings.

“Our research findings demonstrate how outdated processes and clunky T&E systems limit traveler choice or sacrifice usability, which forces people to book direct and continues to negatively impact UK and U.S. firms,” said Dean Forbes, CEO of KDS. “From a cost and productivity standpoint, this should alert companies to the importance of having the right procedures and solutions in place to ensure staff can operate at maximum efficiency.”

Here are four important charts for travel managers from the report.

About one in ten travelers track expenses online

Despite new mobile innovations for tracking receipts, most travelers still keep their physical receipts in one location instead of uploading them to an online tool during a trip.

About one in five business travelers exaggerate milage

While more than two-in-three business travelers say they claim their milage accurately, a sizable minority round up their numbers in their expense reports.

Most travelers claim to follow corporate travel policy

This represents good news for travel managers overall. More than 80 percent of those polled said either their company’s travel policy is effectively communicated or mandated by their booking tool.

Overall, 44 percent of travelers said they spend up to an hour researching policy compliant trips at work.

U.S. business travelers have adopted mobile solutions quickly

Looking at the differences between U.S. and UK business travelers shows a few differences. U.S. business travelers are far more likely to use airline apps for flight and gate information while traveling. UK business travelers are more likely to over exaggerate their milage claims and are more likely to struggle keeping track of receipts.